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Teaching

The department places a high value on research and teaching that engages with fundamental aspects of social life. Faculty members are committed to providing students - graduate and undergraduate alike - with an outstanding learning environment, a place where they can not only develop their sociological imagination, but also develop the research and writing skills they need for their future careers. With this goal in mind, we provide instruction in classical and contemporary theory, quantitative and qualitative research methods and techniques of data analysis, including a solid foundation in statistics.

Student testimonials

It taught me to collaborate across disciplines, be critical of the status quo, and push to develop innovative solutions to difficult problems facing society. UWaterloo also taught me how I communicate my ideas is often as important as the ideas themselves - I apply this daily when presenting complex issues in a simple, clear way to my clients.

I remember Dr. Goyder's Technology and Social Change course because it completely opend my eyes to the complementary relationship between technology and individuals, cultures, and society. I enjoyed the course so much that I have spent many-a days since then thinking and writing about technology and social control .

My professors were supportive, encouraging, and open to suggestion. Their doors were always open and advice was sound. I had trust and confidence in their words. UWaterloo professors are true mentors, both inside and outside the classroom and their steadfast support was critical to my success as a graduate student.

Sociology students are fortunate to have the opportunity to receive great training in both quantitative and qualitative methods and should take advantage of it. This breadth of knowledge in research methodology sets them apart from graduates of other disciplines and is very useful in the workplace.

But, perhaps more importantly, the more "informal" lessons that I learned from the one-on-one interactions with faculty members in the Department of Sociology granted me unique insight into what it takes to prepare for and succeed in a career in academia.

These courses, along with extremely supportive professors in both departments, gave me an opportunity to really be able to pursue my own research interests in Internet-related research and be part of an inspiring and diverse community in both departments.

The critical-thinking skills I developed in my Sociology coursework was instrumental in shaping my career. Understanding how to conduct research, learning quantitative/qualitative research methods, and getting experience proposal writing were probably the most useful skills I learned which are also directly applicable to report-writing in the industry.

There were so many great professors but I absolutely enjoyed taking courses with Dr. Schulenberg and Dr. Gallupe. Their insightfulness, passion, and ability to inspire students definitely impacted my interests in working within the public sector to address many of the controversies we have learned about within these courses.

This course [Sexuality and the Law] was very controversial, intriguing, and informative. Furthermore, it provided various perspectives of issues discussed in class, such as pedophilia, which I would rarely encounter in an undergraduate course.